The US Coast Guard has agreed how a 150 passenger hydrogen ferry will be approved. SWITCH Maritime announced on 21 October that it has signed a Design Basis Agreement with the Coast Guard for the SWITCH-150, a hydrogen fuel cell electric ferry planned for New York City and based at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
The agreement sets out the framework for building, commissioning and operating the vessel. It is the regulatory step that comes before construction, and it gives the shipyard, the equipment suppliers and the operator one agreed set of safety requirements to build to.
Writing rules where none exist
US passenger vessels carrying 150 people or fewer fall under the Coast Guard's Subchapter T rules. Those rules contain no guidance for hydrogen fuel cell propulsion or for hydrogen storage on board. SWITCH and its project team therefore worked with the Coast Guard on an equivalency framework, showing that the design reaches a level of safety and risk control equal to what the existing rules require.
The process drew on the International Maritime Organization's interim guidelines for the safety of ships using hydrogen as fuel, approved in May 2026. SWITCH says the guidelines gave the review more structure and shortened the approval timeline.
The vessel
Incat Crowther designed the SWITCH-150 and led the first version of its regulatory matrix. The ferry is 28 metres long, with a cruising speed of 25 knots and 720 kg of compressed hydrogen stored on board, enough for a full day of service. It is designed to bunker once a day without adding time at the berth.
Refuelling uses mobile hydrogen equipment. The vessel needs no shoreside charging infrastructure and no grid upgrade at the terminal, which is the main operational difference from battery electric ferries that depend on high power charging at the quay.
The project team:
- Incat Crowther: naval architecture and initial regulatory matrix
- PowerCell Group: fuel cell systems
- Hexagon Purus: hydrogen storage
- SEAM: propulsion system integration, power electronics and automation
- LH2 Shipping: hydrogen propulsion design and safety
- Hornblower Marine: operational advice
SEAM, based in Karmøy, Norway, was system integrator on MF Hydra, the Norled ferry that began service on liquid hydrogen between Hjelmeland and Nesvik in March 2023.
The New York project is supported by a $2 million grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), through its Advanced Fuels and Thermal Energy Research Program, to develop and demonstrate the first hydrogen powered ferry in New York State. SWITCH plans to use clean hydrogen for the lowest possible well to wake emissions. It has not yet named a builder or a construction date.
Built on Sea Change
The SWITCH-150 follows the company's first vessel, Sea Change, also designed by Incat Crowther. Sea Change received its Design Basis Agreement in 2020, its Certificate of Inspection in 2024 and entered passenger service on San Francisco Bay in July 2024, as the first hydrogen fuel cell electric ferry in the United States. It was the first vessel of its type to go through the Coast Guard's alternative design approval process.
Sea ChangeSWITCH-150Passengersup to 75150Hydrogen on board250 kg720 kgSpeedabout 16 knots25 knots cruisingDesign Basis Agreement2020October 2026StatusIn passenger service since July 2024Pre construction
Founded in 2018, SWITCH raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Nexus Development Capital in November 2023. In November 2024 it announced plans, with LH2 Shipping and LMG Marin, for a US built liquid hydrogen ferry for 80 cars and 300 passengers. The company says the SWITCH-150 propulsion system is designed for high frequency commuter routes across the United States.
Sea Change took four years to go from design basis to passenger service. The SWITCH-150 now has its rulebook; the builder and the schedule come next.
